"Freedom" is a hit song by British pop duo

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling mor ...

. It became the group's second number one hit on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and reached number three in America. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo.

History

'' Cash Box'' said that "George Michael’s R&B tinged vocals soar with the tune’s catchy refrain." '' Billboard'' described the song as a " Motown tribute". Wham! had already enjoyed a successful 1984 by the time "Freedom" was released in October of the year. "

Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by the English duo Wham!, first released as a single in the UK on 14 May 1984. It became their first UK and US number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael. The single was certified pla ...

" had given them their first UK number one and had then reached the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States. George had then gone to number one with a solo single, "

Careless Whisper "Careless Whisper" is a song written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. Released on the 1984 Wham! album '' Make It Big'', the single release was credited either to ''Wham! featuring George Michael'' (in North America and several other coun ...

". "Freedom" was number one in the UK for three weeks, and featured on the album ''Make It Big'', which was issued at the same time. "Freedom" was the 10th biggest-selling single of 1984. This song also reached number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the US in September 1985. The music video, coinciding with the 1985 US release, features the band touring around Beijing, China. The melody of the song's chorus was used by George Michael as an introduction to his song, "

Faith Faith, derived from Latin ''fides'' and Old French ''feid'', is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or In the context of religion, one can define faith as " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". Religious people ofte ...

", played on a church organ. A reworked version of the song with altered lyrics (but still performed by the duo) was used to promote Maxell's line of audio cassettes in 1984. When the single was released in the United States, the song was remixed and extended an extra 20 seconds. The remix involved the vocals being given more reverb and the organ sounds being higher up in the mix. The extension involved a new trumpet section and added vocals. The section had first been heard in

The Big Tour The Big Tour was the second concert tour by England, English musical duo Wham!, launched in support of their multi-platinum second studio album ''Make It Big'' with over six million units sold in the US alone. The tour spanned 4 months between Dec ...

to close the number. The American remix was later included on

The Final (album) ''The Final'' is a greatest hits album released in 1986 to summarize the career of British pop duo Wham!. The album was not initially released in North America, where an album entitled ''Music from the Edge of Heaven'' was released instead. Six ...

and later, the greatest hits compilation album The Best of Wham!: If You Were There.... However, the original version was included on the release of

Make It Big ''Make It Big'' is the second and final studio album from British pop duo Wham!, released in 1984. In comparison to their earlier work, Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) had more control over the album's production and Michael would a ...

in the United States.

Track listings

* Incorrectly labelled as 5:00 in length. * Note "Long Version" is mislabeled as "Long Mix"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control UK Singles Chart number-one singles Irish Singles Chart number-one singles Wham! songs 1984 singles Number-one singles in Iceland Number-one singles in Norway Songs about casual sex Songs written by George Michael Song recordings produced by George Michael 1984 songs CBS Records singles